Shutter-slat fastener.



A. BASNBTT.

SHUTTER SLAT FAST-KNEE.

Patented May 23, 1911.

Attorneys AUGUSTUS BASNETT, OF AUSTIN, TEXAS.

SHUTTER-SLAT FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 10', I911".

Patented May 23, 1911.

Serial No. 613,482.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS BASNETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Austin, in the county of Travis and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Shutter-Slat Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to builders hardware, and more especially to shutter Workers; and the object of the same is to produce an improved fastener for holding the slats of a shutter at any desired angle or locking them closed. This object is accomplished by the construction hereinafter more fully described and claimed and as shown in the drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is an inside elevation of a shutter provided on its lower rail with one of my improved fasteners. Figs. 2 and 3 are sections on the lines 22 and 3-3 respectively of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4: is a perspective detail of the fixed lip.

Referring to the drawings, the letter S designates shutter slats pivoted in a frame F and oscillated by an upright rod R as usual, and to the lower cross bar L of this frame is attached a metallic housing 5 in which slides a bolt 6 pressed forward by a spring 7 and adapted to be retracted against the tension of the spring by a handle 8 which moves in a slot 9. The front end of the bolt which projects from the housing carries a movable lip 10 which is a substantially rectangul ar piece of sheet metal standing up right and having at its upper inner corner a projecting tongue 11 as best seen in Fig. 2. Secured as by screws 12 or otherwise to the cross bar L of the frame F is the flange 14: of a fixed lip 15 corresponding in shape with that of the movable lip 10 and having a similar tongue 16 at its upper inner corner as best seen in Fig. 4. Both lips stand upright, but they preferably converge toward each other in a direction away from the frame as seen in Fig. 3 so that their front or outer edges are closer together than their inner or rear edges. The rod R which connects the slats S is made round as usual, but near its lower end it is reduced so as to form side shoulders 20, and these shoulders are so disposed that when the slats are closed as seen in Figs. 1 and 2 the shoulders 20 will stand just above the tongues 11 and 16 and the expansive force of the spring 7 will press the movable lip toward the rod and the rod toward the fixed lip so that the tongues of both lips will engage both shoulders on the rod. Hence the latter is positively held in an elevated position and the slats are positively held in a closed position, and of course they cannot be moved by any one on the outside of the shutter because he cannot gain access to the device above described.

In the use of this improved shutter slat fastener, the operator grasps the handle or knob and moves it to the right as seen in Fig. 1 whereby the movable lip 10 is drawn to the right with the bolt 6 against the tension of the spring 7, and as the two lips are thus brought farther apart the rod B may be moved downward as is necessary to turn the slats into a more or less completely open position. When they have been set where desired, the handle 8 is released and the spring 7 causes the bolt 6 to move to the left in Fig. 1, thereby carrying with it the movable lip 10 which presses against the right side of the rod and bears the left side thereof into contact with the fixed lip. This holds the rod frictionally in any position to which it has been set. Thus it will be seen that by the use of this improved device the slats of the shutter may be fastened positively when they are closed or frictionally in any other position. I consider it of advantage to have the lips converge toward each other as shown in Fig. 3, for the reason that their forward portions then grasp the rod R more tightly because they stand nearer together and their rearward portions having the tongues do not need to grasp the rod with such extreme force because the latter has the notches referred to. One further possibility with this construction consists in the fact that a person on the outside of the shutter (or on the inside either) may manually turn the same from any open position to a closed position without touching the handle 8, and when the rod R reaches the extreme height of its position the tongues automatically engage its notches.

What is claimed as new is The combination with a shutter comprising a frame, slats pivoted therein, and an upright rod connecting the slats and having shoulders in its sides near its lower end; of a fastener consisting of a housing secured to the lower bar of said frame, a spring-actuated bolt within said housing, a knob for retracting it, a movable lip secured to the front end of said bolt, a fixed lip secured to In testimony that I claim the foregoing the frame opposite said movable lip, the lips as my own, I have hereto aflixed my sigconverging toward each other in a direction nature in the presence of two witnesses.

outward from said frame, and tongues at the AUGUSTUS BAS-NETT. upper inner corners of said lips adapted to Witnesses:

engage under the shoulders of said rod when A. C. GANDY,

the latter is raised to its highest position. 0. A. MOREA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

